Security personnel stand guard behind multi-layered police barricades set up near Janpath metro station ahead of a proposed protest call by CJP
Pune: Fourteen youth activists and students from Pune detained by Madhya Pradesh police at Itarsi while travelling to Delhi for a protest against the Election Commission of India were released on Friday evening after the MP high court directed the state to produce them before it on Oct 13. A bench of Chief Justice A P Kogje and Justice Vivek Jain directed the state to produce the students before the court on Oct 13 and said they could be produced earlier after informing the petitioners and ensuring their safe return to their families.
Shravani Bua, a student and member of All India Students’ Federation (AISF), , alleged that the group was “brutally dragged out” of the train and denied medical treatment despite injuries. They were first stopped by a Maharashtra police team at Bhusawal station before being detained by Madhya Pradesh police on reaching Itarsi, according to the students. The detention had triggered allegations of excessive force and illegal confinement by the activists. Bhosale claimed plainclothes police personnel followed the activists during the journey and photographed them without consent. She also alleged that some detainees were dragged from a bus and had their hands twisted while being taken into custody. The incident comes amid claims by several student and youth leaders in Maharashtra that police contacted them regarding plans to attend the Delhi protest.
Their release came after relatives of detainees, Shravani Bua and Preeti Londhe, filed a habeas corpus petition before the high court on Friday. They claimed they were removed from the Goa Express at Itarsi on Thursday and kept in a private resort’s banquet hall rather than a police facility.